Hydrobiological Journal

DOI: 10.1615/HydrobJ.v38.i5.110
17 pages

Macrophytes of the Exclusion Zone of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station: the Formation of Plant Communities and Peculiarities of Radioactive Contamination of the Left-Bank Floodplain of the Pripyat River

D. I. GudkovInstitute of Hydrobiology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv

A. L. SavitskiyInstitute of Hydrobiology National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Institute of Ecology, National Ecological Center of Ukraine, Institute of Botany National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Kiev, Ukraine

SINOPSIS

The construction of a complex of flood protective dams on the left bank of the floodplain of the Pripyat river was responsible for changes in the hydrological regime of its water bodies, and also in the character of thickets of higher aquatic plants.
Results of the study of the content of 90Sr and 137Cs in higher aquatic plants made it possible to reveal the peculiarities of accumulation of radionuclides by various species of macrophytes, and also to distinguish those species of macrophytes which can be used as indicators of radioactive contamination. The peculiarities of accumulation of radionuclides by various species of higher aquatic plants can essentially influence their contribution to the total content of radionuclides.